The Stones Demand a Sacrifice
by LowTide1322
Summary: Each infinity stone requires a sacrifice, a price. Thanos is willing to pay it. Is everyone else. No. Not even close. OR: For every infinity stone Thanos gets, one hero dies. Except when they all end up in the same place, maybe they could find a way to reverse everything and save the universe. Just maybe not themselves.
1. Lost in Time and Space

**I've had this idea in my head for awhile now, and I have half of it written already. There should be about three chapters, and I'm actually motivated to finish this one. My other stories are still in the works, but this one is my priority right now. I hope to finish this before Endgame comes out so that my idea doesn't get influenced by the movie. Thanks so much for clicking on this story and please enjoy! Leave a review if you liked!**

* * *

Honestly, he didn't know what to expect.

Death was something he liked to cheat usually, but all of that running and all of that hiding finally caught up with him.

In the form of destruction himself: Thanos.

Loki hadn't planned to die this time, but he supposed he'd set his death in motion as soon as he took the Tesseract from the vault on Asgard. And then Thor's life was threatened, and well, Loki had caused enough problems for his brother. He refused to be the cause of his death.

Of course the knife wasn't going to work, but he'd accepted that. His time had run out, and if Thanos wanted to kill either Thor or Loki, it might as well be Loki.

He'd wanted to steal one last glance at his brother before his vision darkened completely, but Thanos made sure that his smirk would be the last thing Loki ever saw. _I'm sorry, Thor, I'm sorry, I'm sorry_ he wanted to scream, but he couldn't. He choked on air, on nothing, whilst his brother could only watch.

Finally, the pain ceased and Loki saw no more. For a little while, anyway.

He found himself lying in a shallow pool of water, staring up at an orange sky. No, he really hadn't been expecting this. He sat up slowly, taking in his surroundings. While the pool seemed to be water, his hair and his armor weren't wet after lying in it. Maybe this was what Hel looked like; he would be alone forever in an endless orange expanse.

He wasn't alone, though.

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God…" a small voice trembled to the right of him. Huh, he wasn't there before. Loki turned to see a Midgardian boy dressed in red, blue, and gold iron—curiously like Thor's friend, the Iron Man's suit—also sitting in the pool hugging his knees to his chest.

So maybe this wasn't Hel?

Whoever this boy was, he was obviously in distress and hadn't planned on being there either. Purely out of curiosity, Loki shifted towards the boy and rose from his seated position.

He cleared his throat. "Hello."

The boy's head shot up and his eyes widened with fear. Loki had become used to this response after making his presence known. He couldn't place why he felt a twinge in his stomach as the boy scrambled away from him, though. Had he really become so soft as to care about what mortals thought of him?

"I'm not going to hurt you," Loki said simply.

"I'm-I'm dead. I just died. Oh God—"

"Just calm down for a moment—"

"Blood, there was so much blood… Wait, who-who are you? Where am I?" the boy talked so fast Loki had to strain to hear him.

"I'm…" he hesitated. If this boy was indeed from Midgard, using his name would only distress him further. _You're both dead_, he reminded himself. What more could he lose? "I am Loki, son of Odin. You're from Earth, yes?"

"Loki…like, New York 2012 Loki! _That_ Loki?"

"So you are from Earth. What's your name?"

The child hesitated. Loki couldn't blame him. As far as anyone else from Earth knew, Loki was just as bad as Thanos—

Loki grimaced, feeling the ghost of the gauntlet around his neck. He was dead. There wasn't any point to this. He was destined to spend eternity apart from Thor, who undoubtedly would find rest in Valhalla.

"Are you okay, Mr. uh, Loki? Maybe you should sit down," the boy had spoken up again. How could he actually care for Loki's well-being? Did he really look so broken? "I'm Peter, by the way."

"I'm alright. Thank you, ah, Peter."

The concerned look on the boy's face quickly shifted back to terror. "I'm dead."

"Most likely, yes. I've been dead before, but this time I think it really might be true," Loki responded. He didn't know why he humored Peter with a response. Perhaps the idea of being alone for eternity was so repulsive he was so relieved to find another person here, even if it was a Midgardian.

"So we're both dead," Peter confirmed.

"Yes. It would appear so."

"Why are we here, then? Is this the afterlife? Why would I be here with an evil guy…?" Peter meant to say it to himself, but of course Loki heard him. He shook his head in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"

"You were wondering if you were in Hel. That's certainly where I thought I'd be. I doubt a boy like you could have done something as terrible as I have in what little life you've lived. No, I daresay this is something else," he said. Loki knew he'd been evil once. No amount of feeling bad or heroics would ever change that. Peter had every right to think that he was sharing space with a villain.

An idea formulated in Loki's mind. This space wasn't Hel, certainly not Valhalla, so where _were_ they?

"You said there was so much blood… how exactly did you die Peter?"

The boy's face blanched. "Thanos." A surge of anger erupted in Loki. How many lives did the fiend need to ruin in order to wage his senseless war?

"So you have something against him too, huh?" Peter's voice cut through his thoughts.

"What?"

The boy nodded to Loki's clenched fists. He hadn't even noticed his nails digging into his palm or his knuckles turning white. He slowly relaxed his hands, reminding himself that Thanos had already beaten him—there was nothing else he could do for the boy either.

Peter sighed and continued. "He wanted this green stone from Dr. Strange, but me, Mr. Stark, Quill and-and some others fought against him."

"You didn't succeed, did you?"

He took a shaky breath before answering, "No."

... ... ...

Stark knew the kid shouldn't have been there. This was the absolute _last_ place he ever wanted him to be. Peter was a strong kid though—a hero. Tony could hardly keep him from a fight that would determine the fate of the universe. Let alone a fight that would put Tony in danger.

He knew he should have been protective over him, but it seemed more and more that Peter only wanted to protect Tony. That's why they were where they were now.

Iron Man had fought tooth and nail with the mad titan, even made him bleed, but it still wasn't enough. He was the most powerful being in the universe, it didn't matter how much of a badass Tony was, he couldn't hold a candle up to four infinity stones.

He crossed his arms in front of his head hoping to block the punch Thanos was about to throw. He probably blocked 50 percent of it; the other 50 sent him flying backwards, the titan trailing him an instant later.

The fight continued and Tony knew he was losing. His whole life as Iron Man had been leading to this. Thanos lived in his head for _years_ ever since he'd witnessed the portal open over his tower. He prepared his suit and his team to perfection, even at the cost of his own relationships. And finally, just _finally_ things we're going perfect with Pepper and he hadn't even thought about Steve in God knows how long, and this purple guy comes in and snatches it all away from him.

Another punch landed in Tony's gut. Like hell he was going to let Thanos take anything away from anyone else. Tony had lived a good life—relatively speaking, after he became Iron Man—and he'd saved so many people. It didn't matter what happened to him, as long as the titan never hurt anyone ever again. He fired his repulsors as Thanos shielded himself with the gauntlet. The nanobots crept over Tony's suit as it repaired itself, and his other repulsor fired soon after. It was working, the titan was backing down and for once was forced into a defensive position.

But not for long.

Thanos gained ground on Tony again and ripped the nanobots clean off his hands.

Shit.

His plan was definitely faulty, but it was a last ditch attempt to get the drop on the titan. The nanobots formed into a knife and Tony reached up towards Thanos's weird-ass chin, he was so close—

(for Pepper, for Peter, for Rhodes, for his friends, even _Steve_…)

—but his arm was caught, his knife broken off, and Tony knew that it was the end of the road for him. His vision blurred with exhaustion. He'd tried his best, but of course it just wasn't enough. He waited for the sting of iron sinking into his flesh, but was utterly surprised when no such feeling came.

He wished it did.

He heard the shout before he saw the blood. Tony knelt there, blinking rapidly, trying to see what just happened in front of him; why had the titan started smiling?

Peter knelt in front of him, Tony's knife protruding from his stomach.

Tony's world spun again. Where the hell did the kid even come from? He lazily reached out for Peter, but shock kept him from formulating any words or doing anything that might have actually helped him.

Thanos grabbed Peter's shoulders and drove the knife further, so much so that it stuck out of his back. The boy's cry of pain caused Tony to snap out of his shock.

"_You son of a bitch_—"

The titan only slapped Tony aside. His grin widened as he withdrew the dagger from Peter's stomach and shoved him away from Tony. When he landed with a grunt of pain and didn't try to get back up again, Tony knew he needed to get over there. His nanotech could fix the kid, it had to, he _needed to get over there_—

"You and your child have my respects, Stark. When I'm done, half of humanity will still be alive," he tilted his head to the side with what looked like sick amusement, "I hope they remember you."

He aimed his gauntlet at Peter while Tony could only look on with horror. "No, nonono _don't—!_"

"Stop!"

Tony snapped his head around to see Strange struggling to sit up. _Now_ he decides to help out. Couldn't he have said something earlier before Peter got hurt?

"Spare their lives, and I will give you the stone."

_Oh_.

He couldn't do that. He wasn't _supposed_ to do that. But it was the stone or Peter's life…

Why couldn't it just be Tony? Just kill Tony and keep the stone, let Peter live and send Thanos off looking for powerful jewelry somewhere else.

"No more tricks?"

Strange pulled the time stone out of a pocket in reality as if to say "there's your answer". It floated over to the titan, but Tony could only focus on the uneven wheezes coming from the kid just a few yards ahead of him. As soon as Thanos moved, he had a clear shot to Peter.

The mad titan received the infinity stone and smiled at the gain of power.

"I lost a child today, Stark. I'm sorry you'll have to lose yours, but the stone demands a sacrifice. It's naive to think anything less will appease their power. I'm merciful, so you will get something I was denied: a chance to say goodbye. I would hurry—I don't think you have much time left," he added with a smirk and disappeared into a portal. The bastard thought he knew about _mercy_ and _sacrifice_…

Tony couldn't think about that though. His only focus was on the kid who was bleeding out right before his eyes.

"Pete, hey, look at me—look at me! You're alright, you're okay…" Tony struggled to work his nanotech to close the wounds on Peter's front and back, but the pool of blood around them only grew.

Why wasn't it working? He made sure he _perfected_ the damn suit, so why wasn't Peter healing?

"-'r Stark… I don't-don't feel so good…" the kid's voice was barely above a whisper. Red spilled from the corners of his mouth and ran down the sides of his cheeks. The blood was _everywhere_ and it wasn't _stopping_—

"You're alright," Tony repeated. It wasn't even for Peter's benefit. If he denied the fact he was dying then maybe it didn't have to be true. He lifted Peter's head and rested it on his lap, hoping the nanobots had closed the kid's wounds. The blood that leaked onto Tony's shirt and pants begged to differ.

Peter's head lolled to the side to face Stark and his eyes—God, his eyes looked so full of _pain_—bored into his own.

"I-I don't wanna go Mr. Stark, please, _please_—" he begged before he convulsed and blood spilled freely past his lips and down his chin.

Shit shit _shit_. "S-Strange! Dammit, what do I do?! He's bleeding out, I need your help—"

"Tony…"

He spared a glance at Strange. His slumped shoulders screamed "defeat" and the sorcerer looked at Stark with pity.

"We're in the endgame now."

Tony refused to believe that. Peter wasn't allowed to die on his watch. Not because of some stupid purple monster with a god complex. Not because he was trying to save _Tony_.

"_No_; he's gonna be okay. You hear me, Pete? I'm gonna get you home."

The kid's face was a sickly white pallor and his eyes seemed to glaze over with pain. His eyelids drooped and Tony feared the worst.

"Pete? Peter, kid, open your eyes, come on—" he tapped the kid's cheek repeatedly. He found that he was almost slapping his face when finally Peter's eyes slowly opened. Tony let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"...hurts, 'r Stark…"

The last thing Tony wanted for the kid was to be in pain and dying in his arms. Now because of him, he was. This was _Tony's_ fault; _he_ gave the kid the suit, _he_ went up against Thanos alone. He thought that he'd faced the worst pain in his life, be it from the shrapnel in his chest to crippling trauma, but this was worse.

This was so much worse.

"I know. That's why I'm gonna fix you up and get you home, okay?" he replied, his voice soft. Tony did everything he could to comfort Peter, even rubbing little circles with his thumbs at his temples, but the kid only winced either way. They were running out of time. If Strange refused to help then Tony would drag Peter back to Earth himself if he had to.

Just then, Mantis, Starlord, Nebula, and Drax bounded up the hill to see the bloody Tony and Peter.

"Quill!" The sight of the "guardian" brought relief Tony never knew he'd feel (especially since it was brought by the presence of the idiot spaceman). "Quill, where's your ship? The kid was hit, he needs help," he said frantically.

Starlord was frozen in place and he looked like he might be sick, his blasters hanging uselessly at his sides. Normally, Tony would be grateful that the guy had finally shut up but now he wanted nothing more than for him to speak.

"_Quill_!"

Unwillingly, he snapped out of his trance. "Okay, yeah, what do you need me to do?"

"Here, help me lift him up, we'll get him to the ship." Tony waved him over. He let the plan to get to the ship take over his thoughts and only focused on keeping Peter awake until they made it there. Tony wasn't one to give up, so he pushed any worries about failure to the back of his mind. The kid was going to be okay; nothing bad was going to happen.

The two men lifted the boy off the ground, but only earned themselves a cry from Spider-Man that could have pierced Tony's very soul. It was that cry that would haunt Tony at night—that cry that he would remember for the rest of his life.

"Stop…'t h-hurts…" the kid whimpered again. If at all possible, Tony was pretty sure his heart broke even more. More blood spilled from the wound, and they quickly lied Peter back down again.

"You can't move him," Strange had spoken again, the doctor outshining the sorcerer. God, Tony seriously wanted to punch the guy. "His wounds are too severe. You'd have to operate on him now."

"Well, can you?!"

Strange glanced down at his hands, and then back at Tony with tears welled in his eyes. "I can't."

Unbelievable. The bastard thought he could cry when he could be doing something, _anything_ other than just sitting on his ass and handing out infinity stones to psychopaths. They had to do something; Peter needed help, dammit!

"No. No, there's gotta be another way. Bring the damn spaceship here—"

"If we can't move him, then how—"

"Figure it out, Quill! We have to leave _now_—"

"Tony."

The soft voice came from below him. He'd been so focused on finding ways to save the kid that he almost forgot he held him in his arms. Warm, tear-filled brown eyes gazed up at him, and they were full of pain and—

_No_, not resignation, Peter couldn't give up, it wasn't over, it wasn't…

"Tell-tell May…"

"No," Tony's voice broke, "don't _say _that—"

"_Please_," he begged, his voice even softer than before. "You have to tell her I'm _sorry_…" he drifted off, eyes drooping closed yet again. There was something unsettling about this time though; it was like he wouldn't open his eyes ever again…

It was then Tony truly began to panic.

"Kid, hey, look at me." He didn't respond. "Pete! Open your eyes!" He didn't stir. "You're not dead, _open your damn eyes_!"

The Guardians and Strange looked on in sorrow; they feared the worst—

But Peter Parker was one strong-ass kid.

His eyelids lifted up one after the other, but far too slowly for Tony's liking.

He let out a shaky sigh of relief. Peter wasn't gone, and they could go back to pretending they actually had a chance to save him.

"God, kid, you can't do that. There can't be a friendly-neighborhood Spider-Man if there's no Spider-Man, remember?" The callback to Peter's statement from earlier elicited a ghost of a smile from the boy. Seeing him smile always gave Tony a warm, fuzzy feeling (as cliche as that sounded) and now he couldn't have been more glad to see Peter forget his pain if only for a moment.

It just reminded him how _young_ the kid actually was. He was barely 17 years old; he had so much more life left to live, and yet he'd deemed Tony's life more important than his own.

"Why?" he found himself asking aloud.

Peter didn't even have to ask what he meant. "World needs you. Y-you can save it…best defender—I had to."

"No you didn't," Tony's voice broke again, "I should be protecting _you_, Peter." He smoothed back Pete's hair and for a moment, the kid actually looked comfortable. For a moment, everything was okay.

It didn't last.

Peter sucked in a sharp breath and more blood leaked from his wound and his mouth. "I-I'm sorry, Tony."

No, no, no _no_. Tony shook his head furiously; this wasn't happening.

" 'M sorry," Peter whispered and his head lolled to the right. His eyes remained open, only this time there was no life in them. Tony was left with only the damaged body of his...his…

He shouldn't say _child_, but he couldn't think of any other way to describe him.

"Peter? Peter…? Oh-oh my _God_," Tony whimpered. The kid was dead; his kid was _dead_. Thanos killed him.

He repeated this over and over to himself as he curled Peter into his chest and rocked back and forth, tears now flowing freely down his face. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't breathe, he _couldn't_…

The Guardians and Strange hung their heads.

Nebula fumed with anger. She'd seen Thanos torture and kill children—she'd been one of those children—and she'd sworn to herself that she would never let him do something like that again. But now her _father_ (the word left a sour taste in her mouth) had killed Gamora, Stark's companion, and was on his way to killing half the universe. She'd _failed_.

So when everyone turned to dust except her and Stark, they barely even noticed. Stark still clung to his child's body like a lifeline, begging for him to breathe again. Nebula knelt beside him, letting herself grieve Gamora and even her band of idiot friends.

The boy's blood had pooled around them further, but neither paid any mind.

"He did it."


	2. There's An Emerald in the Sky

**Chapter titles come from Lord Huron songs. Also, I hope to get the third and final chapter up before Endgame comes out, but it may be difficult so I might not be able to. We're in the home stretch, though! Please leave a review if you liked, I'd really appreciate it! Thanks so much and enjoy!**

* * *

"I'm sorry you suffered, Peter."

The boy shrugged. "It was me or Mr. Stark. I-I guess I didn't even have to think twice about it."

Loki knew how that went; when you love someone so much that you don't even have to contemplate saving their life at the cost of your own.

His thoughts drifted back towards his brother. He wondered if he was alive, if he killed Thanos, if he avenged his death. Loki just wished he could have one more minute with his brother to tell him how damn _sorry_ he was for everything.

"How did you get here then?" Peter asked.

Loki hesitated, and he heard footsteps approaching them. "A story for another time…we're not alone."

"Wh-what? I don't sense anything, my spidey-senses aren't activating, so there can't be—" Peter rambled before Loki clamped a hand over his mouth. Insufferable mortals; they just never knew when to shut up.

(Well, Loki would be a hypocrite if he said he was never accused for the same exact thing. But that was a conversation that could be held some other time.)

He went to conjure a knife as a form of defense, but nothing happened. His magic wasn't just depleted, it was simply _gone_. He'd never dare tell anyone but… he certainly was frightened. The footsteps drew nearer and nearer and Loki pushed Peter behind him, turning to face whatever was headed towards them.

He took a defensive stance, ready to strike, but the person walked closer and put her hands above her head in surrender. She had green skin—the trademark of the Zehoberei. Loki had thought they were all extinct… all except one.

"I am no threat, son of Odin," she spoke finally. Well, how lovely, she already knew who Loki was. "You and the boy are safe."

"Yes, safe and _dead_," Loki deadpanned. "I assume you are as well?"

"Dead? I guess… I guess you could call us that. We're inside the soul stone—"

"Wait, that's one of the stones Dr. Strange was talking about!" Peter had pushed past Loki's protective arm to greet the woman. "I'm Peter or, uh, Spider-Man."

Loki watched inquisitively as a look of longing passed across the Zehoberei's face. So, the boy reminded her of someone.

"Peter… that's a nice name. My-my friend's name is Peter." Her stone cold demeanor had softened and actually gave the boy a smile.

Loki would have gagged if the same thing hadn't happened to him when he met Peter.

"You seem to know who I am and the child's introduced himself, so who are you, hm?" Loki tried to act aloof, like he'd always been in life, but it appeared he wasn't really fooling anyone. Even Thor had finally been able to see past his lies. There didn't seem to be a point in putting up a facade of disinterest and hostility anymore.

"I'm Gamora, member of the Guardians of the Galaxy. I'd expect someone as cunning as you to remember me, 'god of Mischief'," she crossed her arms and gave a small smirk.

As if being the daughter of Thanos was funny.

"And yet, we're both dead all the same," the Asgardian shot back. He could hardly forget his time as Thanos's pawn, and this girl had the _nerve_ to joke about it—

"Not for long. If we're all here, then this must mean we all died by Thanos's hand in his quest to receive an infinity stone." When Gamora received two confused glances in response, she rolled her eyes. "I thought you were the well-read one of Odin's house?"

Loki narrowed his eyes. "And how is it, dear daughter of Thanos, that you came across this information?" he sneered. At this, Gamora's expression turned dark.

How splendid; he'd hit a nerve.

"Thanos is _not_ my father."

"He was your father when I'd heard horrific tales of the titan's favorite daughter, the Zehoberei, _Gamora_, who would carry out my execution if I did not cooperate," Loki pressed, his emotions getting the better of him. She called herself a "guardian", but no spawn of the mad titan could be remotely trustworthy—

"And you, 'Odinson'? You've no right to judge me."

—yet she made a good argument there. "No. I suppose I don't." A beat of silence fell upon them. Well, now that the "pleasantries" were out of the way, they could start figuring out what the Hel happened to them. "Peter here died in Thanos's attempt to secure the time stone. I gave up my life and the space stone. How did _you_ get here?"

Her expression was haunted as she recalled her past, but Peter spoke before she could respond. "Wait. You're _the_ Gamora? Quill and the others were worried sick about you!"

She snapped her head towards the boy. "You-you know Quill?"

"Yeah. He was with me when I… when Thanos came for the stone. He came up with this really great plan and then lost his shit when he heard something happened to you. And uh, there was that blue lady—I don't know if you know her. She never really introduced herself. She just kinda flew in on a spaceship and crashed it into Thanos. Now that I think about it, it was pretty badass—"

"Nebula," both Loki and Gamora said in unison. They glared at each other, and only Gamora continued. "Are they okay? Were they taken in the snap?"

"I uh…" Peter mumbled, his eyes fixed on his shoes, "I died before I saw anything. You-you mean he…?"

"Yes. The only reason we're here right now is because Thanos succeeded in using the six infinity stones to wipe out half of all life. Until the stones have a new bearer, we're stuck here."

That was _not_ what Loki expected to hear. How could Thor have let this happen? He was by far the strongest being that he knew of, and if _he_ couldn't beat the infinity stones…

Did Thanos kill him, too?

Loki didn't dwell on it—he couldn't. Thinking of his brother like that brought him only pain; more pain than he'd like to admit.

"Is there a way to undo it?" he asked instead.

"I don't know," Gamora said simply.

"What do you mean 'you don't know'? You seem to know a Hel of a lot about why we're here, so there has to be _something_…" Loki had to keep thinking—keep hoping that somehow he could avenge his brother's failure. Really, it was his own failures that got them into this mess. He couldn't think about that now, though. There would be enough time for guilt and grief once this was all over with. Once Thanos was finally met with the death he courted so furiously.

The sight of the gauntlet flashed through Loki's mind again, and he could feel it closing around his throat. Thrashing, struggling, there was no escape, he was stuck and there was no escape, not even giving up the Tesseract had saved him and Thor, they were doomed, he was doomed, the universe would fall, his brother would fail—

_You truly are the worst brother_.

No. He had to prove Thor wrong, he had to save his brother. He had to make up for everything he'd lost, everything he'd thrown away.

_Focus_. The gauntlet, the stones…

"There are six infinity stones, yes? There's three of us. Where are the other three? Who are they?" Loki shook off his anxious thoughts and began pacing. Moving was good, it meant they were going somewhere. They weren't just stuck.

"Vision! He was an Avenger with that yellow stone in his forehead. Mr. Stark didn't say much, but I found out it came from your scepter," Peter said, turning to Loki.

"The mind stone," said Gamora.

"They used my scepter to make a robot? How pathetic."

"You really think so?" a polite voice chimed in behind them. The android had silently walked to them, and Loki hadn't even noticed. Honestly? He could have done without the continuous awkward exchanges between all of the infinity stone sacrifices. He'd had a shit enough day already.

"Oh my God! No way! You're the Vision! Oh man, I've always wanted to meet you sir—well, under better circumstances, but still! It's an honor!" Peter exclaimed. He proceeded to gawk at the android while Loki frowned behind them. Again, he couldn't quite place the origin of the pit in his stomach when Peter instantly praised the Vision for being a hero, while Loki was instantly carded off as a villain.

Well, he supposed he earned that title.

"Apologies, I did not know you were, uh, here. I am—"

"Loki Laufeyson. The mind stone held many consciousnesses, Ultron, JARVIS, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, but yours was the hardest to subdue. So much anger and hatred, many times I had to restrain myself from acting on such feelings," Vision said.

Loki _Laufeyson_. Just the thought of the name made Loki want to vomit. So much self-hatred and loneliness bound into one word. Thanos primed the mind stone to manipulate the god, drawing on his weaknesses to mold him into the perfect minion. It was that version of himself that the Vision knew; it was that consciousness that became intertwined with the mind stone. It wasn't that Loki necessarily felt terrible for his deeds—there wasn't anything he could do to change them now—but the fact that he'd been beaten so easily by the titan ate away at him. He was vulnerable, and easily cracked under pressure to become the monster he feared he was as soon as that Jotunn grabbed his arm all those years ago.

All that he'd tried to prevent had come to pass, and the name "_Laufeyson_" was a sick reminder of it all. Yet, he'd called himself "_the rightful king of Jotunheim_" before he died. Laufey was never his father, not really. But that didn't mean he couldn't own up to his duty that Loki technically never got to fulfill. Not that it mattered anymore. The titan had still stripped everything from him, down to the last sight he'd live to see. How badly he wished to have been able to look Thor in the eye one last time…

No, he could not long for what could never be. Even if someone else were to acquire the stones and free him, Loki would be sent straight to Hel where he belonged. He would never see his brother again. There was no use in feeling sorry for himself.

Still, it would bring him some small comfort if…if… "I'd prefer if you'd call me Odinson. I am not the same person who invaded New York. I'm no longer under the titan's influence, and I know I am not Laufeyson. At least grant me the privilege of my dignity, Vision."

The android's eyes twinkled, if that was even possible. "Of course, Loki Odinson."

To Loki's great surprise, Gamora laid a hand on his shoulder. "You may think Thanos will have his hold over you forever, but you've already beaten him. By forging your own path in spite of him, you've broken free from his grasp. Trust me, I would know." She paused and released him, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, I think we got off to a bad start. We are all going to have to work together to figure this out."

"So there's four of us, six stones. Loki, uh, died for the space stone, Vision had the yellow one—" Peter began.

"Mind stone," Gamora corrected.

"Right. That. And I… I'm here for the time stone. That leaves the soul stone, the purple one and the red one. Oh, hey, that's the colors of the rainbow!"

Loki fought the urge to roll his eyes. "How old are you again?"

"17. Why?"

"Gamora, which stone did he kill you for?" Loki said, ignoring Peter's question. He felt a bit bad for being so insensitive, but there wasn't any time for "beating around the bush". He could tell this was a sore subject, but Gamora responded anyways.

"He tossed me off a cliff as a sacrifice for the soul stone," she said without pause. "A soul he loved for a soul of power."

The rest of them went silent. Wasn't she technically his daughter…? Loki supposed Thanos didn't deserve to be called Gamora's father if he killed her for power. The god wasn't an expert on the subject, but he at least knew that couldn't have been an act of _love_. He was surprised the soul stone had granted its power to the titan.

"You were right," Loki said.

"About what?"

"You are no daughter of Thanos, and he is no father to you." The god gave an awkward smile. His brother once said he was incapable of sincerity, and that was more often than not true. So when Loki actually was sincere, well, he wasn't sure if he was doing it right.

Gamora didn't seem to mind. She gave him a watery smile, "Thank you."

Maybe these people were bearable to share this "space" with after all.

"That leaves us with the power and reality stones," Vision said. "I doubt we would have to go looking for the other individuals, since we all seem to end up here."

"The reality stone _was_ with the Collector, I'm not sure where Thanos took it from though," Loki said. Sif and Volstagg had delivered it to the Elder, but who knew what could have happened between then and now. He tried to tell Valkyrie to find it, that Thanos would be looking for it, but he wouldn't be surprised if she ignored him.

Gamora shook her head, "No, we went to Knowhere, Thanos was waiting for us. But I doubt an Elder would let himself be killed for an infinity stone. He must have gotten someone else to take his place." She turned to Loki, "Thor—your brother said that Thanos 'decimated Xandar'."

"Yes, the titan wasn't too modest about that victory."

"Uh, what's a 'Xandar'?" Peter spoke up. The poor boy simply had no idea what they were talking about, but his eyes remained wide with wonder and awe. He reminded Loki a bit of himself when he was younger.

"It's a planet. Or, well, it was."

Loki wanted to scream. Seriously, _how_ was it possible for people to walk in the middle of their conversations and give answers? Okay, so he had a new pet-peeve.

"Who-what? Where did you just come from?" Peter seemed equally annoyed and aware of the continuous intrusions.

The speaker was a young man who looked Asgardian or even Midgardian, but unrecognizable by those who were present. Loki thought he could have been Asgardian by the way he held himself, as if he used to have power before finding himself in the soul stone. But it couldn't have been seidr (Loki would know if someone was blessed with the gift like him and Thor), so that ruled out Asgard or Vanaheim. And his clothing seemed to be a collection of leathers and armor, reminiscent of Midgard. Not for the first time, Loki was utterly clueless.

"I tried to keep the power stone from him, I did, but he obviously had been preparing for this for a long time," said the man.

"Who are you?" Gamora asked, looking genuinely intrigued. She'd actually been to Xandar most recently, but she'd never met this man before.

"You guys wouldn't know me, I'm just Ian Drake. I was a member of Xandar's Nova Force."

...

The past couple years after graduation had been pretty uneventful. Living in the capital of Xandar wasn't as glorious as everyone made it sound, and sometimes he missed the grueling days of his training to be a part of the force. Most of the time he remembered how peaceful his old home had been. Far away from Xandar, he'd lived with his family and friends when he'd applied to be a part of the Nova Force. It was only a year of training, and he could go home to visit once he graduated.

He didn't have a home to return to, what with it being burned to the ground by Thanos.

He'd heard whispers and nightmarish tales of the mad titan, but he wasn't one to listen to ghost stories. So, imagine his surprise when a giant purple titan had ravaged his planet and killed his family, all in hopes to "keep the balance" of the universe.

His fellow peers offered him condolences, but soon the terrible tragedy that had befallen his home planet wasn't thought of only after a couple months. Just another faraway place that the mad titan had devastated. Thanos faded back into being a myth, but Ian Drake never forgot what happened.

How could he?

He'd lost everything that mattered to him—well, almost everything. It took awhile, but eventually Ian realized that while he couldn't go back in time to save his family, he _could_ give others the future he'd never have. That was what he fought for.

When the titan practically decimated Xandar, Ian was there. He couldn't do a damn thing about it, and he hated being just as powerless as he'd been all those years ago. He was given a duty to protect the power stone—even though he had no idea what it was—and the rest of his comrades had fallen to the titan's seemingly endless army.

All this destruction, and for what?

Just so some titan could prove he was the most powerful being in the universe—just to show that he could prove he could weigh people's _lives_ against each other. All in the name of _balance_.

"Balance," Ian mumbled to himself. The word left a bitter taste in his mouth. As if one self-righteous being could decide when life could stop or start.

He headed towards the vault that held the orb—which undoubtedly held the power stone—and grimaced as he sidestepped the debris scattered all around. He didn't want to think about the bodies that littered the ground among the debris either…

As he neared the room that kept the power stone, he noticed the door was busted off of its hinges carelessly. It was like Thanos wanted whoever dared to follow him to know just how powerful he was without the infinity stones. Ian jogged in anyways to find the villain cracking open the orb that confined the stone.

"I can't let you do that," Ian said. A burning rage took over him, and his hands shook uncontrollably. He could hear his family's screams in his head, see the smile on the titan's face, the burning homes—

"And what makes you think you can deny me my power?" the titan asked calmly. He spoke with a condescending tone, as if Ian was a simple child asking about a complicated calculus he would never understand. "The stones are rightfully mine; I've endured suffering you could never _dream_ of enduring, child. I've searched for them to avenge what was taken from me. Please don't try to stand in my way, it will only end in torment for you."

"What if stopping you is the way to avenge what was taken from _me_?" he snapped in response.

The titan didn't answer, probably deeming that Ian wasn't worth his time. He continued to crack the orb, and a poignant purple light seeped through.

"So you don't even _remember_ Vormir? You don't remember all the lives you took that day? All to prove what, huh?!" Ian spat, his anger getting the best of him. But as vengeful as he was, he knew an opportunity to stall when he saw one. The more time the universe had to prepare for the wrath of Thanos, the better.

The mad titan finally turned around to face Ian. It seemed the name of his old home was of some interest. "Vormir?"

"You decimated it in hopes of finding an infinity stone. You failed. So you killed them all, you bastard—"

"There was no stone, and yes, I thought I eradicated the population. You seemed to have escaped." Thanos shrugged, "Or ran. I don't judge." 'Two could play at the game of manipulation' was the gist of the statement.

The two were now face-to-face, the cracked orb still in the titan's hand. The power emanating from the orb was intoxicating, and Ian found himself drawn to it. He'd heard that the Guardians brought the stone to Xandar a few years back, but after what happened to his home he never wanted to hear anything about the infinity stones ever again. So he didn't pay attention to all the news surrounding the defeat of Ronan, and instead he just went on with his life in the Force. But it didn't matter if he wanted to know or not, he heard rumors all throughout Xandar of the stone's capabilities. Allegedly, the power stone was an ancient artifact that could kill any common life-form on contact, but titans and other powerful beings weren't as easily affected. Ian thought he fell more into the "common organism" category, so he didn't know if he'd be vaporized on the spot if he so much as looked at the infinity stone.

But now that the stone was in front of him, he couldn't help but reach out to it. Thanos didn't even try to stop him, knowing full well that Ian would probably die on the spot.

The pain was indescribable at first. Ian could hear screams coming from all around him, but he soon realized they were coming from his own mouth. Alright, so maybe picking up the stone _was_ a bad idea.

He was about to drop it when he heard a voice that didn't come from Thanos or himself, but seemed to be coming from the stone. It permeated through his mind to the point where he wasn't sure if he was hearing the words anymore or seeing them before him:

_Soul. Soul. Soul._

The stone was calling out to him like a younger sibling to the older. Ian had no idea why, but he was grateful something could distract him from the agonizing pain.

_We need to stop him_, Ian communicated back. If you asked him to try and explain how exactly he was doing that, he would shrug. He literally had no idea.

_Soul. What will you give? Soul...?_

Give? What else did he have to give? _The titan took everything from me_, he responded with tears in his eyes. _I'm worth nothing_.

If he was worth nothing, then why could he pick up the power stone? The thought barely crossed his mind, but it reminded him of just what was at stake. If he could give others more _time_, just a little more time to protect the future that they wanted to see…

_Take me_, Ian concluded, _when this is over_.

The stone looked fondly at him—he really didn't understand how that was possible, but decided not to question it—and in an instant the pain ceased and Ian felt as though he was soaked in ancient power. The agreement was made, and the stone's purple color seeped from his fingertips and blazed in his eyes.

"Well, I'm impressed. You _can_ wield the stone. Such a waste to kill you now, but I'll be needing that." Despite the titan's previous statement, he sounded very unimpressed.

The stone smiled through Ian. "Come and take it, then."

The fight was truly spectacular, but no one would ever see it.

Thanos knew that if he were to achieve his goal of claiming all six stones, he would have to face formidable adversaries. Best to get the toughest out of the way first, then.

Ian could only last for so long, and as he weakened the titan eventually gained the upper hand. The gauntlet had a magnetic pull to the stone, slowly extracting the power from the young man's veins. The power stone once again formed into a solid and dropped from Ian's hand.

He collapsed, already feeling the exhaustion eat away at him. He did as much as he could, wasted as much time as possible. Ian knew that inevitably the menace would collect the power stone, but at least he got to beat up the bastard before that. He smirked at the thought.

"I don't know what you were hoping to achieve, child," Thanos exhaled, allowing himself a rest he didn't deserve. "The stones are _mine_."

"Not without a cost," Ian coughed. He'd promised the stones his life in order to buy time for the rest of the universe, and now his own time was running out. "Even if you succeed, y-you'll lose everything."

The bruised titan attached the stone, and it fit perfectly in the gauntlet. With an arrogant smile, he approached the weakened man. Using the gauntlet he formed a long spear, and held it over his adversary threateningly.

Ian Drake didn't flinch as the spear pierced his heart.

...

"So I guess everything I did was for nothing, huh?"

"Not entirely," Vision said, scratching his chin in deep thought. "The stone called out to you, it knew Thanos would succeed regardless of our efforts to stop him. I think, in some way, we were all meant to be here."

Ian's mood visibly lifted. "Well, that makes me a little bit feel better."

Loki rolled his eyes. Every single one of these "heroes" decided that their lives weren't worth the stones, and it made him want to gag. _Again_.

(And then he remembered he did the same thing.)

Before he could express his distaste at the thought, Gamora finally spoke up. She'd looked shaken the entire tale, and looked with a smothering pity at Drake. If Loki were him, he'd yell at her to stop feeling sorry for him. Actually, Loki wasn't even sure he noticed Gamora's expression. Fool.

"You said Vormir was your home?"

Ian turned to her, "Yes. No one's really heard of it though, so I'd be surprised if any of you—"

"The soul stone was on Vormir," Gamora blurted.

A series of emotions flashed across the young man's face, shock, anger, sadness, and finally regret. "What?"

"I died for the soul stone. It was the only one Thanos didn't know where it was. I found the map to it, but I burned it. He-he got the information out of me anyways."

"But he ravaged it! We never had a stone there we would have known…"

"Honestly, dude, at this point nothing really makes sense. I'm just going along with everything they say. It's been working for me so far," Peter shrugged. Gamora shot him a look, Loki couldn't place if it was disapproval or amusement. Peter seemed to take it as the latter. The god had to hide his smirk; that child was too pure.

"...Right. And, Gamora? It's not your fault he got the stone. I-I should have known it was there… I'm the last one of my planet, it's my responsibility to protect it but I ran away," Ian responded.

Gamora quickly reassured him, "It's not any of our faults, Ian. Thanos is a monster. We all did the best that we could."

Ian didn't look very convinced, and Loki wasn't either. If he didn't make as many mistakes as he did, maybe he wouldn't be in the situation that he was—_Asgard_ wouldn't be in the situation that it was. Thanos wouldn't have killed half of what remained of their people, Odin might not have died, Hela might not have been released, Asgard wouldn't have been destroyed…

No matter how many times Loki wanted to forgive himself, the past always came back to bite him in the ass. All those he cared for paid the price. So no, he didn't deserve forgiveness, and yes, it still was all his fault.

Ian seemed to be thinking the same, but both men said nothing of it. They brought their attentions back to the situation at hand and the five people in the endless orange expanse. They seemed to be missing one more person.

"The reality stone is the last one. But I swear, if someone is going to walk into our conversation and interrupt—" Loki began, but he was inevitably—and hilariously—cut off.

"Interrupting you is what I live for, Lackey."

No. No no no no _she could not_ be the sixth person! Of everyone in all the nine realms—! Spending eternity with Hela in Hel seemed a lot more appealing now.

"Valkyrie. Oh, I wish Thanos would kill me a second time."

"Oi! You should be grateful I actually listened to your lying ass and went back for the reality stone!"

Loki opened his mouth to make another insult, but closed it. She listened to him? How was that possible? "Why did you? Listen to me, I mean."

The warrior didn't even pause, "Thor would. I trust him, and he trusted you. Transitive property… I guess I trust you?" The last phrase looked like it took her immense strength to say, and Loki usually would have found immense satisfaction in that. Now, he just thought again of his brother.

"So, the Collector didn't die?" Gamora's question brought Loki out of his thoughts.

"No, the cheeky bastard had fled before I even got there." The group stared back at the woman blankly. "Oh! Name's Valkyrie, by the way. I guess I left out that bit."

"And uh, you two know each other?" Peter pointed to both Loki and Valkyrie.

"Unfortunately, yes," Valkyrie sighed. She ignored Loki's scoff, and continued. "I sent the rest of Asgard on a course to Vanaheim, and I used the Grandmaster's ship to get to Knowhere. I landed, found out the Collector dipped, saw Thanos appear and then _boom_," she practically shouted, and Peter jumped (Loki snickered at that), "purple light, and I ended up here."

"It must have been the power stone," Ian said, "it's destructive power is unparalleled, to all but infinity stones. That must have been how he found the reality stone. And I guess, you died in efforts to protect it…"

"Pretty boy's got a point, but getting blown up? That's got to be the worst way to go! I'd rather die in battle trying to take down the titan and his purple ballsack of a chin," Valkyrie said, exasperated. Ian turned to Loki and mouthed 'pretty boy?', but Loki only shrugged.

"We all want that, trust me," Gamora said with a ferocious glint in her eye, and everyone present shared her fury.

"And as we've all experienced, there are worse deaths," Loki mumbled. Everyone hung their heads in agreement, but Valkyrie snapped her head up.

"What happened to you, Lackey?"

"It's not important—"

"If we are going to work together, we have to be able to trust each other," Vision spoke up after having been silent for the past few minutes. "Wanda…" he said the name with such fondness they all figured that whoever she was, she had to be someone special. "Wanda had to destroy the mind stone before Thanos could get there, and she did. But then the titan arrived, used the time stone to bring me back, and he plucked the mind stone right out of my head."

The group was silent for a moment, but none looked more horrified than Peter. The child's face had become as white as a sheet, and he couldn't bring himself to look Vision in the eye. It was almost as if…Loki wasn't sure, but perhaps he was guilty? Why would he—

The time stone.

Loki was quick to reassure the young hero. "Thanos did not acquire the time stone because of you, Peter—"

"That's literally why I'm here, Mr. Loki. If I'd been faster, maybe I could have stopped him…"

"No one could have stopped him, Peter," Gamora also reassured him. "That's also why we're here: to set things right."

"She is right. And no one would blame you for this, especially not Tony," Vision placed a hand on his shoulder. Peter's eyes started to water, but he quickly wiped them away. He nodded vigorously and obviously was trying to keep his emotions in check, but was failing.

"It's alright, kid," Valkyrie patted him on the back, not at all lightly, "it's not like you handed it to him."

"Yeah, like I did."

All heads turned to the god of Mischief.

"What?" Peter's voice broke.

Loki sighed. He was going to have to relive his third death sooner or later, and if it would make Peter feel better at all then it was even more worth it.

"He had Thor. He unleashed the power stone against his head, and he kept screaming…" he swallowed, still hearing his brother's shrieks of pain no matter how much he wanted to forget. "So, I handed the Tesseract over to him. I hoped the Hulk could take care of him, of Thanos, so I grabbed Thor and dove out of the way. My plans all failed, though. Thor tried to fight Thanos again, and Heimdall sent the Hulk to Midgard at the cost of his own life. I was out of options." He turned to Gamora, "You know better than anyone how much Thanos values balance. There were two sons of Odin, only one would live and one would die."

"Loki—" Valkyrie used his real name for the first time, but hearing her say it only reminded him of home.

"I am nothing without Thor," he said, voice wavering. "No matter what I did to him, he always gave me a chance to earn his forgiveness. No matter how many times I claimed I wasn't his brother, I always was. So seeing him in pain? Watching him _die_? I would rather be strangled to death until my neck snapped and my windpipe was crushed a thousand times over than lose my brother." He felt moisture in his eyes and salty water tumble down his cheeks, and he chuckled at the amount of emotion he was letting show. "I believe love is weakness—I've criticized Thor for it. It's funny because it turned out to be my weakness."

"He-he snapped your neck?" Gamora practically whispered.

"I tried to use a dagger to kill him. I knew it wasn't going to work, but being the ass that he is I knew he'd kill me for it. I-I didn't think he'd make my brother watch, though."

"Shit!" Valkyrie cursed under her breath. "I swear to Odin, I'm gonna kill him."

"Right after I do," Ian said.

"He will die as many deaths as he caused, but the first will be by my hand," Gamora growled. She stomped towards Loki, and for a moment he thought she was going to hit him. Instead, she gave him a hug.

Loki's never been more uncomfortable yet grateful in his life.

Soon enough, Peter joined in on the hug and Loki embraced both him and Gamora back. If Thor could see him now…

Gamora stepped back, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. "I'm sorry if I overstepped I just…you remind me of my sister."

"And I needed a hug," Peter sniffled.

They all laughed.

Since all of the sacrifices of the infinity stones had assembled, the soul stone deemed it time to begin their mission. An archway appeared behind them, and the six looked between each other quizzically.

"Let's get this shit started then," Valkyrie said, turning on her heel towards the arch.


	3. Long Way Back From an Edge of the Cosmos

**Heyyy, I'm terrible at updating I know.**

**I've been in a post-Endgame depression for like months on end, but I have been writing this chapter for literally a year and I decided it would be best to split into two parts. Otherwise the change in perspectives could get really confusing. So, this is now a 4-chapter story, and I sincerely PROMISE I will get the final chapter out sooner rather than later. With quarantine going on, I definitely have more time to write.**

**I thank you all so very much for your patience, and for your love and support of this story! Please enjoy the read!**  
**(Not proofread entirely, please excuse any found typos)**

* * *

_You should have gone for the head._

_The sun will shine on us again._

_You should have gone for the head._

_You should have gone for the head._

_You should have gone for the_—

"Thor."

The god of Thunder snapped his head up to see Steve shouldering a bruised, bloody, and starved Tony Stark.

"Danvers was successful then," he said, his voice extremely low.

"Yes. We just wanted to let you know that we're going to meet in the conference room, talk about what to do next. Tony wanted to—"

"I wanted to say 'hi', Point Break. See how you're holding up. It's been awhile, buddy," Tony cut the Captain off rudely. They must have still been angry at each other, even after everything.

Tony hobbled over to Thor and gave him an awkward side-hug. Thor could see past the gesture, though. He could see the anguish in the other man's eyes and it went beyond his physical injuries. Not to mention the profuse amount of blood that stained Tony's shirt and pants, and even his hands had a faded red tint to them like he had tried to scrub even more blood off, but was unsuccessful.

He hadn't even showered since he got back.

"Where did Pepper go?"

Tony shrugged. "Sleeping. Lord knows she needs the rest."

Thor nodded before turning to the Captain. "And there isn't much to talk about, I'm afraid. I don't know what else there is to do, Steve. If not for me, Thanos would be dead—"

"Thor, we can't play the blame game. Not now. Just-just meet in the conference room, alright? We need to regroup." And with that, Steve silently exited the room. Thor saw no use in arguing, and he followed, making sure Tony made it to a seat. Everything since the end of the battle had been going by so fast, Thor wasn't sure how much time had actually passed but Tony most likely needed more medical attention than he was getting. He brought this up to the man when he stumbled over his feet to sit down, but he only shook off his teammate's worry and slumped in his chair.

The sight of the remaining Avengers was awfully disheartening; so few of them remained. It was all because of him, because of his need for revenge, but he still needed it, he _craved_ it—

"Tony, did you notice if he had any weaknesses, or did he say anything that might give us some clue as to where he went?" Steve said, and Thor wasn't sure when the conversation had actually started.

"No, Cap, I didn't really have time to think about it while I got my _ass_ handed to me when Thanos wiped my face with a planet."

"Did Strange say anything about the time stone before—"

"No."

Steve drummed his fingers impatiently. "Tony, you gotta work with me here. If we want to bring everyone back—"

"We _can't_ bring them all back!" Tony shouted, his voice wavering. "I don't care whatever giddy, optimistic idea you have in your head, but it won't work."

Steve's voice remained steady, but now his posture was more tense. "I know you said you lost the kid, but if we can find the stones and reverse this, then we _can_ get him back."

There was a subtle shift in movement from the back of the room, and Thor saw the blue humanoid clench her fist and shift her gaze downwards. She must have been the one Tony escaped Titan with. The rabbit said he knew her, but hadn't gone much more in depth than that. From what Thor could tell she was enraged on Tony's behalf, but he didn't let his mind wander further, not wanting to know what awful things Thanos could have done to his friend.

He would find out anyway.

"Pete—whose blood do you think this is, huh!?" he gestured to his shirt and hands, "Thanos _killed_ him, Steve! And I just _left_ him there! I couldn't even take his body with me! I couldn't mourn, I couldn't do anything! He bled out, and he was scared, and he died _apologizing_ to me. He fucking _apologized_ for dying! And Thanos left us there. He knew he killed him, but he made it last. He made me watch my kid _die_…"

At that point, Tony's breaths had become shorter and shorter and fresh tears had built in his eyes. When Spider-Man didn't return with Iron Man, everyone assumed he'd just been taken in the snap along with all of their other loved ones. Seeing all of that dried blood… they never would have expected the horror that was the truth.

None of them truly knew how important Peter had actually been to Tony. Thor certainly didn't. Apparently the boy wasn't his real son, but that wasn't what Tony meant by calling him his kid; he was his chance to be better, to do right by someone, to love someone other than himself. But he failed.

Thor knew what it felt like to fail to protect the ones you love.

Clint slammed his fist onto the table hard enough to leave a dent in the metal. He had children of his own and the snap took them. Hearing what Thanos had done to another child, well, Tony's story probably only poured salt on Clint's already bleeding wound.

Natasha moved to wrap an arm around him, but not before reaching across the table to take Tony's hand into her own. She always was good at comforting the team, Thor thought to himself. She'd tried to comfort him on numerous occasions after the battle, but Thor insisted on sitting alone in silence. He probably should have asked how she had been doing in the aftermath, but the point was moot. They all lost.

Tony refused to meet her eyes, but eventually he grasped onto Natasha's hand tightly and choked back a sob. He steeled himself, gave her a glance that could only be one of gratitude, and with a quick nod Nat released him and wrapped her other arm around Clint.

"Tony, I-I'm so—"

"Shut up, Rogers."

"Tony—" Rhodes cut in, hoping to prevent the argument that was about to unfold but it was to no avail.

"No! I said that we needed 'a suit of armor around the world,' remember that? That's what we _needed_. And look what happened, Steve! I said that we weren't enough, and that we'd lose. And do you remember what you said? 'We'll do that together, too.' Well, we lost. And you weren't there. So, no, I don't have any clues, any ideas, _anything_ to stop him. You're on your own this time." He moved to get up, but his face scrunched up in pain and nearly fell back into his chair. Rhodey was there to catch him and ease him back down.

"I know I should have been there for you. I know that, Tony. And I-I understand if you can't ever forgive me. I wouldn't. And-and if you're out, I get that too. But I promise you, I'm gonna do whatever it takes to avenge Peter—I swear to God I'm gonna do _whatever it takes_ to make Thanos pay," Steve said, his voice wavering.

"There's a lot of avenging that needs to be done," Thor said. He'd meant to say it under his breath, but that name… _Thanos_ made lightning dance across his fingertips and Stormbreaker tremble beside him.

All heads turned towards him. Thor hadn't spoken much the whole meeting, so they must have been surprised that he would now.

"He took everything from me. All I have left is vengeance," he stated simply. They wanted him to speak? Fine. He would, and he wouldn't wait for them to understand, because how could they? They lost half, he lost it _all_. "I'm the last of my kind, possibly. That is, if Thanos succeeded in killing every passenger on our ship. My entire family is dead, my planet was destroyed, and my mind was turned to mud by an infinity stone. And I almost avenged them all, but the bastard still got what he wanted—"

"What-what do you mean you're the last of your kind? What happened to Asgard?" Nat asked, still sitting with Clint.

"Asgard was destroyed by the fires of Sutur because of my half-sister. And not one month later, Thanos attacked our refugee ship and slaughtered what remained of my people. He killed Heimdall, he killed—"

_I assure you, _brother_, the sun will shine on us again._

Thor couldn't go on or else he would scream like a tortured soul in Hel. He bit his tongue, clenched his fists, and tried to steady his breathing enough to keep the lightning at bay. Bruce sent a concerned glance his way, but Thor ignored it. Yes, the Hulk had been there, but he didn't see Heimdall die, he didn't see the life slowly and painfully drain out of Loki's eyes while Thor could only squirm. Bruce, Natasha, _none_ of them could understand why Thor wished so badly he had died with him.

"He murdered my sister, Gamora. For the soul stone," The blue one in the corner said. Perhaps… perhaps she understood, though. What had Rabbit said her name was? Nebula. That was it. "And before that, he replaced parts of me with machinery and told me it was 'out of love'. He is worse than a monster, that much is clear. And yet the stones still obeyed him. Even if we killed him, avenged all those who we lost, there is no guarantee that we could bend the stones to our whims…"

"We're too late," Tony summed up.

"No! No, I refuse to believe that," Steve said, fanning out his arms as if to stop anyone from standing up and leaving. "All of us, we've interacted with the stones before—we've seen their power to destroy, but we're still standing. We're stronger than Thanos could ever hope to be, as long as we're _together_." He glanced at Tony as he said this. The billionaire's resigned look reluctantly became more and more hopeful.

"All throughout the universe, I've seen some pretty messed up things. But there is beauty out there, too. The stones must have had some part in making the things that are good in the cosmos," Danvers said. "Once we kill Thanos, we use the stones to bring everyone back. I can use the gauntlet, and I'll _make_ the stones listen to me."

One thing Thor had learned the past few days was that when Danvers set her mind on something, there was no stopping her.

For what might have been the last of his people somewhere in the cosmos with Valkyrie, he had to kill the titan—if not for them, then to avenge all of them.

And selfishly, to avenge his brother.

"Do we _really_ think this could work?" Bruce said after a beat of silence. "We tried to fight him before and look what happened. What's gonna make this time any different?"

"You'll have me," Carol said simply.

"And that's great and all, but we don't even know where he is," Rhodey cut in. "I mean, it could take us years to—"

Just then, a voice came in through the intercom, surprisingly enough. "_Hey-hey! Can anyone hear me? It's-it's Scott Lang, you know, from that time in Germany? Ant-Man! I know you know that! Listen, can you buzz me in? It's raining and I didn't bring an umbrella and my van has a flat tire, it's just been a really shitty day and—_"

"Oh my God, is he still going?"

"Just, someone let him in. _Please_." Steve sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair. It was good to know that Lang hadn't been turned to dust, but the man's high energy level weren't something any of them wanted to deal with right now.

"Wasn't Scott reported missing?" Bruce asked. He'd been charged with taking account of just how many Avengers had been dusted, and he went over it with the group earlier. They all distinctly remembered Ant-Man's name on that list.

"Who the hell's Scott?" Rabbit asked.

"Guy who can make himself really small or big." Nat replied. And when Rabbit was about to make another snarky remark, she added, "Don't ask."

The group continued on with their chatter, and when the so-called Ant-Man entered and started to talk about "quantum realms" and other ideas he didn't understand, Thor drowned out the conversation.

He knew self-pity wasn't becoming of a King, but Thor was the King of _nothing_. Every sentence, every word reminded him of what he'd lost. Guilt burned fiercely in his chest, and every short breath did nothing to quell the flames. He wished so desperately to break into whatever vaults of ale Midgard possessed and drink until the pain could be dulled somehow. That way, he could pretend that all of his sorrows didn't exist. He could forget.

"I saw them!" Scott was shouting. Thor snapped his head up in surprise at the man's raised voice. This caused Tony to jump in his seat, and then Rhodes. In better circumstances, he would have burst out laughing or made some sort of joke at the sight.

"Jeez, Point Break, last thing I need right now is a damn heart-attack!" There was a lightness to his tone, so Thor knew he wasn't seriously mad at him. Still, he mumbled a "sorry" since Tony was seriously in poor shape; his tears from earlier had barely dried.

"Scott, slow down," Steve ground out. "Who did you think you saw in the...uh—"

"The Quantum Realm!" Scott said, a bit quieter than his last exclamation. "And I didn't _think_ I saw people, I actually _saw_ them. There were six of them! I've never seen people in the Quantum Realm before—well, the two times I've been in there, but whatever—so that can't be a coincidence!" He paused. "...can it?"

"You want us," Tony said incredulously, "to have the fate of the universe riding on a coincidence?"

Ant-Man scoffed. "What? No, no of course not..."

"Good, because you had me worried there for a second."

"Who did you see, Scott?" Steve repeated.

"Well, I couldn't recognize who any of them were, but they all looked human except this one girl was green and there was this familiar looking red and blue floaty-guy—"

Nebula shot up from her seat at this and moved with incredible speed towards Scott, who looked like he was about to wet himself at the ferocity with which she walked. "The girl, she had green skin?"

"Y-yes—"

"Did you see markings on her face? Silver markings on her cheekbones!"

"Now that you mention it, yeah. That's exactly what she looked like. How did you know—"

"It was Gamora," Rabbit said with awe. Nebula turned to the rodent with what looked like a hopeful glint in her eye.

"Wait a minute, didn't you say that Thanos killed your sister?" Rhodes cut in.

"On Vormir…_for_ the soul stone." Nebula's eyes flitted back and forth; if the girl wasn't involuntarily made into a cyborg, Thor would have noted that it seemed the gears in her head began turning. While it wasn't a very tasteful observation, it was true. Nebula's expression lit up more than any of them had ever seen and the scowl she normally sported faded. "Tell me more about what you saw," she said to Scott. It wasn't a request, it was a demand.

"Uh-ah-um—" Scott visibly squirmed under Nebula's intensity, but he was able to sputter out a few useful phrases. "It was orange everywhere uh—and wishy-washy, but the six of them weren't ghosts, but they were, it was very trippy—"

"So Gamora is alive because of the soul stone?" Natasha asked.

The cyborg shook her head. "It must be an in-between; she is neither alive nor dead."

"Can the stone even do that? Keep someone from death and life?" the captain said so quiet Thor had to strain to hear him. Perhaps he hadn't even meant to say it aloud, judging by the way he looked off in the middle distance. Banner had labeled it as "spacing out"; Thor had done the same thing during many of his father's long lectures about the throne and ruling Asgard. Loki had always been the one who listened intently, soaking in every word Odin spoke as if they were the secret to life itself. He hadn't thought of it then, but the boy had been _so_ desperate for affection and acceptance, while Thor coasted through every lesson and earned approval without even having to try.

Perhaps Odin had once spoke of the infinity stones and their unique capabilities, namely the soul stone. Loki certainly would remember. Alas, both were dead.

So here was Thor: alone, ignorant, and useless. He truly was of no use to the Avengers anymore, so why was Steve so adamant that he be there for this meeting? He hadn't gone for the quick kill, no, he was selfish and wanted Thanos to suffer because he was a fool, an idiot, a war-mongering excuse for a man, a terrible—

"Like you've said, we have all had experiences with each of the infinity stones. All but _one_. The soul stone." Nebula turned away from Scott and focused on the rest of the Avengers, thankfully interrupting Thor's train of thought. "Thanos never truly used it."

"Which could then beg the question, does he know how to?" Rabbit said.

A charged silence fell upon them, hope blossoming on each of their faces. The soul stone was an unknown, and therefore could be used to their advantage against Thanos. Thor could tell each and every one of them was picturing ways to kill the mad titan, and in other circumstances he would have thought it terrifying. But their need for vengeance and their rage was what could save the world—save the _universe_.

_Trust my rage_.

"We could use that. If _we_ figure out how to control it, we can turn it against him, or at least take it from him." Steve growled, "And free all the souls he took with him."

"So is there some sort of soul "realm" that your sister is currently trapped in? How could that help us even use the stone? I mean, there's still so much that we don't know—" Bruce began but Natasha cut him off.

"Even if there's a small chance that this could work… we _owe_ this to everyone who's not in this room to try."

And no one could argue with the Black Widow there, not even Thor. If Valkyrie was still out there, he owed it to her and the rest of the survivors to wipe out this threat once and for all.

But really, all he was going to do was prove that titans could never dream of being gods.

Thor would prove his little brother right.

* * *

While Bruce and Tony went on interrogating Scott about everything he knew about quantum physics and its relation to the Quantum Realm, Steve slipped out of the room quietly—the science talk was like a foreign language to him—and he wasn't the only one. He'd noticed by the end of the conversation that Thor's chair was empty, along with Clint's. He pretended not to notice Natasha's worried glance following him out the door, but he knew she would most likely follow him to the lounge. After all their time spent together as a part of the Avengers, in SHIELD, and in exile, Steve caught on to her habit of worrying about others when her own grief became insurmountable.

"Hey," Steve felt a gentle hand on his shoulder, and turned to meet Natasha's eyes, stern yet consoling. "You okay? You seemed—"

"Angry? I think we all are," he said with a laugh that was far too hollow. He thought back to the terrifying look on Thor's face when he talked about Thanos; the amount of hate and rage Steve saw there was more than enough to convey that it would be the Asgardian who would kill the Titan, with or without the team.

"No. I was gonna say tired. I mean, we all have been these past few weeks, but first you were looking nonstop for Tony, and now you're going to spend every waking moment working with Nebula and the others… I know you, Steve. You need to slow down."

Steve squeezed his eyes shut, trying to force back the burn of exhaustion that had been eating away at him for the past few weeks—hell, the past few years. He never understood how Nat could be so perceptive and so damn right about everything Steve was thinking and feeling. Maybe she was just that good at reading people, but he liked to think that they were alike in some inexplicable way.

Steve and Natasha's relationship was like him and Bucky. They just _got_ each other, and sometimes they could understand what they were thinking without even speaking. And then there was Tony, who was the complete opposite but in the best way. They challenged each other to see different perspectives, old and new. All three were the epitome of perfect friendships, but it didn't matter anymore. Bucky had unwillingly left him, Nat was stuck with him, Tony hated him—that was nothing new.

So why did it all still hurt so much?

"You know I can't. Especially with what Thor lost, Clint, the team… what _Tony_ lost, I-I can't let them all down. And I won't give up on who _we_ lost." His lips quirked. "My sanity is a small price to pay for the rest of the universe, Nat."

"And you're right; we need you in order to do this. Which is why we need you at your _best_." Steve was about to argue, but Nat continued, "We can't afford any more mistakes. This is all or nothing."

Steve felt a pang in his chest. He knew Nat was being logical, but it hurt him to think that he could have done more to prepare for Thanos the first time. "You don't think I know that?" he practically snapped. Nat didn't flinch; she never did. Steve sighed, "I have to make sure we do this right, for everybody's sake."

Natasha scoffed, "'Whatever it takes' right? What, do you _want_ to die?"

To both of their surprise, Steve hesitated.

Natasha's eyes first widened with horror, but then her brows furrowed with concern. "Steve—"

"I don't, I don't… I just can't bear seeing that look in Tony's eyes, you know? I can't help but feel like even if we still lost, things would be better if that kid was still here. And if I…" _And if I wasn't_, he couldn't finish. He knew what he was saying was ridiculous, he really didn't want to die, but with Nat he was always an open book; he could never hide anything from her.

He tried to look down but she wouldn't let him. She grabbed his face in both hands, forcing him to look at her. "Hey. We're all here for a reason. We _need_ you, you hear me? And Tony… he will get through this, and you'll be here to help him." Steve tried to scoff, but she shook her head, "You weren't the only one who was wrong. He might not seem guilty, but I know he feels just as bad as you do for what happened in Siberia. He might hold a grudge longer, but that doesn't mean he wants you _dead_."

Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes, and he wanted so badly to just stay here and let himself break down in Natasha's arms.

But he knew he couldn't.

Steve brought his hands up to hers, gently bringing them down from his face. "It's not just about me and Tony anymore. This is about the world, the whole universe. I have to be willing to sacrifice in order to fix this. I _have to fix this_, Natasha," he whispered. He straightened, setting his jaw, "whatever it takes."

She looked like she wanted to argue further, but Tony wandered into the lounge with Rhodey's help.

"Hey, so Lang is—" Rhodey stopped mid-sentence, seeing that he probably walked in on an intimate moment, or at least an emotional moment.

"Did I miss something while I was gone?" Tony quipped, and Rhodey gave him a disapproving glance. At first Steve and Natasha looked confused, but then they noticed that they were still holding each other's hands. They released each other and turned to face the two other men.

"What's going on with Lang now?"

Rhodey sighed. "Bruce wanted your advice about something Scott came up with that's completely insane and impossible—"

"Insane because Lang uses movie references and gibberish to explain stuff and _pretends_ to know anything about physics. Impossible? Not a chance," Tony explained in his… own way. Steve was confused nonetheless, and figured that if anyone could give him a straight answer about what the actual hell was going on, it would be Bruce.

"Okay, okay, did they figure anything out or has Scott just been rambling for the past hour and a half?" Natasha asked as both she and Steve strode after Rhodey and Tony down to the lab.

Rhodey shrugged. "Beats me."

Tony rolled his eyes. "What Rhodey _means_ to say is that we found a way to send Scott back to the Quantum Realm and see if he could connect to the soul stone again. We're almost done scanning the ugly van for his previous coordinates, and then he'll be good to go."

"What about the people he mentioned, like Nebula's sister?" Steve asked. The four of them rounded the corner to the lab-hangar area to see everyone gathered once again.

"I have a theory about that," Bruce said, cutting into their conversation. "When me and Tony were studying the Mind stone before, um, Ultron… it was obvious the stone had a mind of its own. It had a consciousness, a-a spirit, if you will. And we weren't really focused on that bit at the time, mostly just on its ability to think and process and follow our example. Not its ability to create life, connect to the other stones, or attach to a human consciousness, for instance. There was so much that we ignored…"

"What are you getting at, Bruce?" Natasha asked.

"I think that the stones aren't really stones—they're people." The shock in the room was evident, and more than a few cast disbelieving glances Bruce's way. "I mean, they're not people like you or me or whatever, but they aren't inanimate objects that you can _use_ or simply bend to your whim. Again, Ultron, for example, hell, even Vision at first was purely the Mind stone."

"So… the people that I saw—" Scott began, and Bruce was all too eager to finish his sentence for him.

"_Were_ the infinity stones. Somehow, the Quantum Realm is like a connection—no, a bridge to the Soul Realm."

"'Soul Realm'? I don't know, man, what if Ant-guy was just hallucinating or something?" Rocket grumbled. "This seems like a whole lotta BS to me."

"Hey, hey I was _not_ hallucinating! And remember how I said everything was orange? What color is the Soul stone, Bruce?" Scott pointed to Bruce in a very overexaggerated fashion.

"Orange," the man supplied.

"That's right! Orange!"

Steve almost smirked at Rocket's groan of annoyance, but the small air of brevity soon became heavy again as Nebula spoke.

"Thanos killed Gamora in direct exchange for the stone. Perhaps the stone decided to take her form… or she-she _became_ the Soul stone," the woman said with a far-off look in her eyes.

"Exactly," Tony exclaimed. "Why not just let her be dead? Why even let Scott see the bridge to the so-called 'Soul Realm' at all? It sounds like the stones are angry at Thanos to me, like they _want_ the Snap to be undone. I mean, there had to have been a reason the stones were always kept apart, right? They aren't meant to be _used_ like they were… but they can't really defend themselves like the Soul stone could."

"Defend itself? How?" Steve found himself asking aloud. Tony answered, but almost as if he didn't mean to speak out loud either.

"Gamora's sacrifice…" and suddenly the man looked like he was going to be sick. He sagged against the wall behind him and Rhodey put a hand on his shoulder to help steady him.

"Tones?"

He took a shaky breath, "When Thanos...after he—when Peter, um… Thanos said something to me: 'the stone demands a sacrifice.' It was his reasoning for-for why he did… what he did," Tony practically spat, his voice quaking with fury.

"Thanos was the only one with the means and the madness to attain each stone," Thor concluded, that terrifying look of pure hatred written all over his face again.

Steve threw on his facade of confidence and strength, "Then we help the infinity stones reverse this. Thanos wasn't supposed to win; the universe isn't his. He has no right to that kind of power."

"So what do we do, Cap?" Clint asked with a half-hearted grin.

He thought about that… what in the world were they going to do now? The whole dimension-hopping thing was way out of his wheelhouse, but the team needed a plan. And Steve wouldn't be Captain America if he couldn't come up with a battle plan on the spot, would he? "We have the coordinates of where Scott was, right? Someone needs to go there using whatever got him there in the first place—"

"We made a Quantum Realm nano-tech prototype suit, but we only have one since we used most of Tony's nanobots that were on hand and Scott's Pym particles… we only have one shot at this, guys," said Bruce.

"I will go," Nebula practically demanded. "If Gamora is there—"

"We can't risk losing you, Nebs," Tony interjected. Aside from Rocket, he was the only one who could interrupt her and not be murdered for it. "And not just because we care an awful lot about you, but if you get stuck there? We are gonna lose any intel that you have on Thanos. And I know you want to kill him just as much as, if not more than anyone in this room."

It made sense, and Nebula seemed to understand that. She didn't press any further, but she looked as if she were on the verge of tears. Steve never had any siblings, but Bucky was the closest thing to a brother he ever had growing up. So when he lost him for the first time… he could sympathize with Nebula in that way.

"I… I guess I'm gonna go then?" Scott offered half-heartedly. Poor guy just spent weeks in the Quantum Realm and now he had to be sent right back into it. "None of you have been influenced by Pym particles before, so I don't think any other volunteers would do us any good—"

"I'll go."

Everyone's attention turned towards Carol Danvers, who was already attaching the Pym suit to her own. Steve had to admit, he was a fan of Captain Marvel. Partially because both their alter egos had the title of "captain" and also because she reminded him of himself before he went into the ice. She knew her purpose, her value, and she was never afraid to be vocal about it. And she too hadn't been home for a few decades but unlike Steve, she didn't let her unfamiliarity of the times affect her. She was so much stronger than him. Hell, she was so much stronger than everyone—with the exception of Thor, who was about her equal—that he wondered why they didn't ask her to go to the Quantum Realm in the first place.

"You might not have your powers in there." Bruce stood in front of her, the Pym particles at the ready but hesitated to attach them to the Pym suit. It had taken them almost an hour to set up the quantum tunnel to match the specific coordinates they'd discovered, and once it was finally ready, Carol was all but walking into the machine already.

"Yeah, but I'd be just as human as Scott, and I think I can handle myself."

"Good point."

"I don't know if that was an insult or a compliment," Scott muttered to himself, but they all could tell he was silently grateful for not having to go subatomic again.

"Good luck, Captain," Steve gave Carol a nod of encouragement as the helmet snapped over her face.

Carol smirked, and dammit that was putting a smile on his own face. "See you on the flip side, Captain."

* * *

**Thanks so much for reading! Review if you liked! How do you think this is going to end? (Prolly better than Endgame...maybe...)**


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